Team India's head coach, Rahul Dravid, acknowledged on Tuesday that Virat Kohli's absence for the first two Tests of the England series, due to personal reasons, is significant. Dravid described Kohli as a "phenomenal player" and noted that any team would miss the contributions of such a key player.
Dravid also expressed the view that Kohli's absence provides an opportunity for other players to step up and deliver strong performances in his place.
India are set to face England in a five-match Test series, with the first Test scheduled to start on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The subsequent Tests will be played at Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Dharamshala.
Kohli's temporary absence from the team creates an opportunity for other players to showcase their skills and make valuable contributions to the team's success in the series.
"Any team will miss a quality player like Virat Kohli, there is no doubt about it. He is a phenomenal player and his records tell everything. He is a huge boost to the side but having said that it gives an opportunity to the other players to step up and put in some good performances," he said in the pre-match press conference.
"We have got some good experience in the squad. We have players like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja who have played in the team for over a decade in Tests. There are some other great players in the team like Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer but I will not call them youngsters...They have been there with the squad for a time now and they have the opportunity to perform and prove themselves in the five-match series," the former right-hand batter added.
Asked about the Hyderabad pitch, he said it is hard to predict the conditions.
"It's hard to say. We will see once the game starts and figure it out. It looks like a good one from where I have seen it. The pitch may spin a little bit, how quickly and how fast that I don't know," Dravid said.
(With ANI inputs)
